wildwahinepaddler

OH HELLO!

I can’t believe there were actually two perfect days in a row!  Paddling conditions have been so “hit and miss” lately.  I headed towards the boat ramp hoping the wind wasn’t going to come up……but just as I passed Kam II, some wind kicked up blowing from the East.  I continued on paddling against the wind and when I got to the boat ramp……the wind backed off a bit.  It was pretty perfect there!  I ran into a paddling friend and we both spotted a turtle out farther and paddled out to it, but it disappeared.  My friend paddled north and I stayed around and I’m glad I did!  I had nine turtles to keep me company today and a couple of them were really into posing today (the above turtle popped up like he wanted me to take a photo of him!).  I got some good shots and a tourist woman on a rented stand up board was laughing her head off saying,”oh my that turtle is just following you like it knows you have a camera!”  Well, it sort of seemed like it was!  What a mug shot!  Anyway, this turtle ended up being the turtle I call “Bumpy” so then I was not surprised at its friendliness!  That turtle has practically climbed up on my board before.  The tourist probably thought I was goofy……talking to it the way I was!  The wind still had not backed of completely so that meant it could change directions at any minute, so I bid farewell to my turtles and paddled back.  By the time I went for my walk, it was windy and it was still windy when I went for my swim!  I swam into the wind down to the reef, but the reef was not as clear as yesterday.  I had heard from a beach friend that the beach had been closed prior to my arriving due to a report of a 6 – 8 foot tiger shark being spotted in the area.  Luckily, it opened up just as I arrived at the beach.  I never saw the shark anyway!  It was just a beautiful day!

So many turtles!

After the wild, windy ride yesterday…… today looked perfect!  I couldn’t wait to get out on the water!  Even though I was concerned at how unpredictable the wind has been, I paddled down to the boat ramp.  I spotted my first turtle at Kam III and stopped to visit and take a photo (that’s the turtle up above!)  Then I continued down to the boat ramp and another turtle surfaced right by me before I passed Kam III.  Already two turtles and I hadn’t even made it down to the boat ramp yet!  I seemed to be the only person around and I think it might have been the windy conditions yesterday….. so only “I” was taking a chance getting stuck all the way down at the boat ramp!  Well, I decided that I wouldn’t stay very long but the turtles made it nearly impossible for me to leave…….sixteen turtles….. all in a short amount of time!  I sat between two turtles, got in a turtle triangle, and then was surrounded by four turtles twice!  It was so perfect down there I couldn’t believe it. One by one, three more turtles came up to visit!  Woo Hoo…….eighteen turtles!  I paddled past Kam III and one more turtle surfaced and swam under my board……nineteen turtles!  I was ecstatic to get such a turtle filled morning.  Paddling back, the water was so glassy and nice and it was still nice when I got back to Kam I!  I got lucky with the wind……it was nice while I walked and it was nice all the way through my swim!  I was enjoying the fish down at the reef and suddenly a huge turtle approached, so I took off swimming with it.  I swam just above it until it veered out farther than I wanted to venture…….wow, twenty turtles all in one morning!  What a nice day and it didn’t get windy until about 12:30 p.m.  I sure hope it’s this nice tomorrow morning!

Windy!

I just wish this wind would make up its mind!  Yesterday it was windy, then it backed off and then it was crazy windy…….so today I just decided to go for it.  The wind was blowing from the south so I decided to paddle into the wind as far as I could.  The ocean got so choppy so I turned around and paddled north.  The water stayed choppy but I managed to paddle down to Kalama Park.  Just as I noticed three turtles floating on the surface……the wind came up in a frenzy!  I was sitting in a turtle triangle but I couldn’t even take a photo because the water was so rough!  It looked like some rain might be heading my way too, so I turned around and paddled back to Kam I.  It was so hard paddling in those conditions!  I don’t usually get that tired paddling, but I was actually getting exhausted from paddling in the wind!  My right arm was aching from paddling away from my board just to  keep from getting blown out to sea!  I finally made it back and was I glad.  Getting my board up the beach in the wind was a big challenge too.  I finally made it to the grass and was able to rinse my board off, but it was so windy that I wasn’t sure how I was going to get it up on my racks!  I waited for a few minutes and then there was a slight break in the ferociousness of the wind……and I tossed my board up onto my racks and hurried to secure it.  At least my board was safely on my car!  It was a windy beach walk and a bumpy swim down to the reef, but the ocean water is so clear!  I saw lots of fish down at the reef and then I had to work to swim back against the wind.  The day was beautiful, but the wind has been so frustrating!  When I got into my car to leave the beach……I looked up and saw a pod of dolphins swimming right past Kam I!  I couldn’t believe it……they were right in the shallow water and tourists were freaking!  I really wanted to go out again…..but the dolphins moved out by the boat and then disappeared.  I can’t believe I missed being out with dolphins again today!  Oh well, it was still a beautiful day!

Visiting with turtles!

This past weekend was a mixed bag of beach conditions, very windy on Saturday……and windy, not windy, windy, with a bit of a swell at the Mana Kai on Sunday.  This morning was different!  I couldn’t even see any white caps way out there so it was a great paddling day!  I paddled straight down to the boat ramp, and when I arrived, there were two paddlers already there and two people snorkeling.  I spotted my first turtle right away and paddled out to it.  By the time I got out there, the turtle had disappeared.  I paddled farther south and sat and sat.  I was beginning to think that would be it for the day when up came the turtles!  First one by one, then there was a turtle triangle and then I was surrounded twice by four turtles!  One of the turtles was particularly friendly (it posed for several photos!)…..one of them is the photo above.  It was so nice down at the boat ramp, I didn’t want to leave, but the wind has been so crazy, I didn’t want to be stuck that far down if it came roaring in.  Fourteen turtles was great!  I paddled back in nice conditions and I thought about paddling down to Cove Park, but came in.  After I had rinsed my board off and was about to hoist it onto my racks…….a friend came by on his bicycle and said,  “Did you see the dolphins?”   I said…..”where?”   Then I looked out on the ocean and down outside of Cove Park, Spinner dolphins were jumping!  I can’t believe I missed the dolphins!  It started to get windy, though, so it was better that I came in.  I took a windy walk and then it was a windy swim……but the water is very clear and I saw three different schools of fish on my swim!  Soon the white caps took over and I went home.  I sure hope tomorrow morning is as nice as it was today!  It was great visiting with the turtles again.

There you are!

Well, today was finally a good day for paddling and enjoying the turtles!  The wind has been so unpredictable lately that I almost paddled north, until I saw cane smoke billowing from a sugar cane field down at Maalaea.  I didn’t want to paddle towards that!  So I turned and paddled south and decided to chance it and go all the way to the boat ramp.  It was such nice paddling conditions too!  When I arrived at the boat ramp, there was a kayak already there.  I sat there for a while and almost left when my first turtle surfaced out farther from where I was sitting!  I wasted no time in paddling out to it….but by the time I reached it, the turtle had disappeared.  Then a second turtle popped up and I paddled over to it.   I tried to get a photo of it but it swam right past me!  Another turtle surfaced closer in to shore, so I paddled in.  It swam under me and then disappeared down in the water.  I was just about to leave when a fourth turtle popped up and swam around me!  It stayed long enough for me to take a photo of it with my phone (there it is!)  Then it popped up one more time and then disappeared down under the water.  I was really happy to be at the boat ramp and four turtles was a nice treat for the day!  I paddled back in nice conditions and it stayed nice until half way through my swim, when the wind came up.  It was more of a workout on the way back!  It was nice that the water is so clear right now and I could see fish darting around down at the reef and coral.  Overall…. it was a great day…paddling, a walk, a nice swim, and of course, turtles!!!  I hope it’s nice tomorrow too!

Bumpy ride!

I got up about 7 a.m. and looked out the window…….and to my delight, the wind was not blowing!  I hurried with my morning preparations so I could get down to the beach and arrived at 8:30 a.m.  Just in time for the wind to start blowing!  I waited and watched for about twenty minutes or so…..and then the wind backed off a bit, so I went for it!  Five minutes into paddling, the wind came back up and the ocean got choppy but I didn’t want to turn back.  I paddled north into the wind and against the wind until I reached Cove Park.  I wanted to stay out for a while and see if the wind was going to back off again, but the wind just kept blowing stronger!  The wind kept trying to turn me around and I kept having to paddle hard to keep from letting that happen.  Before I knew it, the white caps were forming and the gusts of wind were strong!  I looked at my phone, took a photo, and then let the wind turn me around.  Paddling back was a breeze!  The wind pushed me along like I was nothing……and I returned to Kam I.  I knew it would be a struggle getting my board up the beach with the wind, so I was expecting it.  The wind blew my board against me and I had to work hard to keep going!  Finally I got up to the shower and managed to rinse my board off and sit it down to dry.  I took my paddle to my beach chair and sat for a minute to see if the wind was going to back down. Finally, there was a short break in the wind and I hurried and hoisted my board up onto my racks!  Just as I was going to strap it on, the wind came rolling in again and I barely got my board strapped down.  That was close!  It was so windy but I wanted to take a short walk, so I cinched my hat under my chin and went for it.  The ocean was a rolling sea of white caps by the time I went swimming!  I swam north into the wind and then let it push me back.  The water is recovering from the storm run off fiasco and was pretty clear even though I sensed a slight green tinge to the water.  Hopefully soon, the wind patterns will get back to normal and the ocean will be clear again.  It was a beautiful day despite the windy conditions and I was very glad to get out on my board after eight days being off of my board!  I miss paddling so much when I don’t go out…….